Pre-screening clinics held in Dili ahead of Operation GoodHearts.

Over the past two days, children have travelled from far and wide from
around Timor-Leste to Dili’s Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares to be assessed by our volunteer medical team ahead of next week’s Operation GoodHearts.

Paediatric Cardiology Fellow Dr. Ari Horton reflected after the
first day of clinical assessments.

“I was really surprised because we’ve already found so many patients that
would really benefit from the surgery…it’s the beginning of a process to try and prove that collaborative surgical missions would be possible in East Timor and strengthen Timor's ability to
provide a future of diagnostic care for Timorese children. One day regular missions, with a focus on sustainability and capacity building for local services, ensure that Timorese kids have
access to the same care that children in Australia receive everyday,” said Dr Horton.

Operation GoodHearts involves a volunteer medical team working
alongside staff at Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares, where they aim to perform high-tech keyhole surgery on up to 15 children over five days.